Nigel Farage’s party won more than 4m votes and came second in 103 seats, of which 93 were won by Labour

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Shortly after 3.30am on Friday, as Nigel Farage was finally elected to Westminster at the eighth time of asking, the Reform UK leader stood to deliver a speech that was fully intended to interrupt Labour’s euphoric celebrations elsewhere.

Having played a large part in the implosion of Conservative support, Reform would now be targeting Labour voters, the new member for Clacton said. “We’re coming for Labour – be in no doubt about that.”

Party leaders make last-minute appeals to electorate as Labour heavily tipped to win overwhelming majority

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Under bright, blustery skies across most of the UK, British voters went to the polls on Thursday to elect their fourth prime minister in five years, with Keir Starmer’s Labour party heavily tipped to win an overwhelming parliamentary majority and bring to an end 14 years of Conservative-led government.

After weeks of campaigning after Rishi Sunak’s surprise gamble to call a July election, he and the other party leaders cast their votes across the country while making their final appeals to the electorate.

How the occupants of No 10 brought us austerity, Brexit, Partygate and an economic crash

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Come with me to another country, far, far away, where things are a little bit different. In this fantastical land, young people can live and work in any country in Europe. You can swim in a river without catching Weil’s disease, or see your doctor.

Things aren’t perfect in this country, but 40,000 people rely on food banks instead of 3.1 million. People live half a year longer. Five-year-olds are taller.

National Trust ground-scanning technology maps new features close to site of Roman city of Wroxeter

An archaeological survey of more than 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) in Shropshire has identified a wealth of previously unknown features, including two grand Roman villas and multiple earlier iron age farmsteads.

The geophysical survey, the largest ever conducted by the National Trust, used ground-scanning technology to map undetected features close to the site of the Roman city of Wroxeter, just south of modern day Shrewsbury.

As the campaign nears its end, we look back at the highlights and low points from the past six weeks

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The general election campaign is nearly finished at last, and we trust you’ve enjoyed the ride. Soon it’ll be all over bar the counting – but for now, who and what were the real high and low points of the past six weeks?